How to Plan a Bird Watching Vacation

A Beginner's Guide

One of the most relaxing and challenging activities we enjoy is watching birds. In the process, we often identify the type and species of bird, learn specific behavior characteristics, learn similar birds, and learn about the habitat that supports their lifestyle. In the process, we often get a good walk, breathe fresh air, meet new people, and explore areas we've never seen, many that are quite beautiful. We use a checklist provided by our field guide or by Audubon or by a visited park to track the birds spotted. To expand our list of birds identified, we find we need to travel to new ecosystems. A vacation that will expand your bird list requires careful planning if you want to take advantage of your investment in airfare and time.

When we select a destination, we've often read about it in a birding magazine or have selected it based on maps in our field guides. Birding and wildlife magazines often have beautiful photographs of birds, hints about identification, tips for finding birds, conferences that celebrate bird migrations, and explanations of bird habitats. They are designed to seduce you into travel. Alternatively, the field guide maps show where a bird spends its time during various seasons. If you find a locale where a number of new birds for your list spend their time, you may have a new travel destination. Other times, when we know that we want to visit a specific location such as Costa Rica, we buy the field guide and use it to study up for our trip. Doing so insures that your identification skills are primed when you arrive and allows you to find more birds.